THE HOUSE Watchdog Committee yesterday voted to postpone discussion of the UN leaked documents until after the president returns from UN headquarters in New York.
Deputies who voted against the decision cried foul, describing it as a “severe blow” to democracy and a “gag” on parliament.
In the run up to the debate, the government made huge efforts to have the issue removed from parliament’s agenda, concerned that any attempt to browbeat UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer was not in the best national interest.
President Demetris Christofias will travel to New York for a meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on November 18 while Ban is due to issue his progress (or lack of) report by the end of the month.
Opening up a front against the UN over the content of 6,500 pages of stolen UN documents at this particular conjunction was considered a bad idea by the government. Ruling party AKEL was left isolated last month when it tried to have the debate on the possible undermining of state institutions and officials by UN officers postponed.
However, yesterday it rallied the support of opposition party DISY which voted with AKEL in favour of postponing the debate until after the tripartite meeting later this month.
Deputies from DIKO, EVROKO and EDEK had tabled the issue for discussion based on a recently published book Simademeni Trapoula (Marked Cards) documenting the contents of private correspondence between UN officials working on the peace talks between 2008 and 2009.
The book – written by academics Yiorgos Kentas and Michalis Kontos, and lawyer Achilleas Emilianides – includes private emails between UN officials on a range of issues, including Downer’s reported perception of Christofias as “a little child”.
Just last week, a year after the documents first appeared in the press, the UN’s Good Offices in Cyprus sent the government a letter informing them that the documents are considered stolen, in violation of international conventions, an act which requires further investigation.
Uncorroborated reports have surfaced suggesting that the UN suspects the Cyprus Intelligence Service (KYP) was behind the theft.
According to Watchdog Committee chairman Riccos Erotocritou, DISY deputy Christos Pourgourides argued that the committee was obliged to carry out an investigation first on whether the UN documents are the product of theft. If so, then discussion of their content would irreparably expose parliament.
Behind closed doors, the committee voted in favour of discussing the issue as a matter of principle, with only AKEL voting against. In a second vote, AKEL secured the support of DISY to ensure that the debate would be postponed until after November 18 when the president returns from the tripartite meeting at the UN.
DIKO deputy Andreas Angelides charged that parliament yesterday delivered a “severe blow” to its own freedom to ensure transparency and accountability.
Erotocritou questioned how parliament could satisfy Pourgourides’ demand to investigate whether the documents were stolen or not.
EDEK deputy Marinos Sizopoulos described the decision as a “miserable development, which is trying to gag parliament”.
Meanwhile, Attorney-general Petros Clerides sent a letter to House President Marios Garoyian yesterday on the question of the Downer parliamentary debate.
According to AKEL deputy Yiannakis Thoma, Clerides clarified that the Cyprus Republic was obliged to investigate whether it has breached any obligations under international law.
The top legal officer also highlighted that responsibility for investigating the possible theft lies with the cabinet.
